By Wendell Barnhouse | wendell@big12sports.com Big12Sports.com CorrespondentA year ago, the three Big 12 Conference teams that are in Omaha for the 2014 College World Series were using the old Brooklyn Dodgers’ mantra of “Wait ‘til next year.”

In 2013, TCU, Texas Tech and Texas finished seventh, eighth and ninth. The calendar flipped to 2014 and all three teams are in contention for a national championsip.

For the Horned Frogs and the Longhorns, failing to reach the NCAA Tournament was a bitter reality for two programs accustomed to post-season play.

The Red Raiders had completed their first season under new coach Tim Tadlock and had a young roster. But Tadlock was not about using inexperience as a crux.

When he took the job on June 8, 2012 he recalled a conversation. “It wasn’t too long ago, it has been about seven years, that a man told me, ‘Texas Tech can’t go to Omaha,’” Tadlock said at his introductory news conference. “Well guess what? We are about to find out. I believe that.”

The reality is that Texas is making its 35 CWS appearance (the other seven teams in Omaha have combined for 18) and will face UC Irvine at 2 p.m. Saturday in the opener. TCU and Texas Tech, thanks to the happenstance of bracketing, will meet at 2 p.m. Sunday. The Red Raiders, accomplishing their coach’s vision by making the school’s first trip to Omaha.

The last time the Big 12 had three teams in Omaha was 2005 and the Longhorns won their sixth and most recent title that year.

“It’s kind of cool with a mini-Big 12 tournament out there,” UT outfielder Mark Payton said. “We got to play against some of the best competition this year, which is in our own conference.”

The Big 12 was second to the Southeastern Conference in the Ratings Percentage Index. The Big 12 had five teams in the 64-team bracket, four advanced to host Super Regionals and three won. The SEC placed 10 teams in the bracket and have two teams (Vanderbilt and Ole Miss) in Omaha.

TCU is one of the nation’s hottest teams. Since April 1, the Horned Frogs have won 32 of their last 36 games. They lead the nation in ERA and come off the emotion of a clutch two-run rally to win the Fort Worth Super Regional. Catcher Kyle Bacak’s suicide squeeze bunt provided the winning run against Pepperdine.

“Offensively, our whole mindset is to just scrap and get whatever runs we can for our incredible pitching staff,” Bacak said. “We feel like if we get three runs, it’ll be hard for someone to get four on us.”

All three Big 12 teams have strong and deep pitching staffs. That could be an advantage at TD Ameritrade Park. Only 22 homers have been hit in the three years since it became the new home of the CWS and only three round trippers were hit last season.

“It’s going to be hard to score guys in from second base with one out, because it’s such a big place,” TCU coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “The ball doesn’t carry and the outfielders play so shallow.”

Texas made it to Omaha in 2011 but missed the post-season the last two seasons with last year’s ninth-place Big 12 finish serving as the nadir for coach Augie Garrido in Austin. UT started this season strong and had a number of significant non-conference victories but were swept at home by TCU which started a slump that included seven losses in 11 games.

The stretch pushed the Longhorns down in the standings but it was obvious at the Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship that Garrido liked how his team had responded and recovered.

“The biggest challenge has already been accomplished by the team,” Garrido said. “Not the winning. The bonding has taken place. That’s not going to break.”

Even without staff ace Dillon Peters, who is shut down with an arm injury, Texas won the Houston Regional and then beat Houston – No. 2 in the RPI – in two games in the Super Regional. Over the past 14 games Texas is hitting .301 with nine home runs and averaging 5.14 runs a game. The Longhorns are 26-2 when scoring five runs or more this season.

“It means we’re two-thirds of the way there,” Texas reliever John Curtiss said. “We won the Regional, won the Super Regional. Now we need to go to Omaha and win that.”

Texas Tech’s pitching staff has the best ERA for a Red Raiders team in over 40 years but it has been even better in the post-season. In six NCAA games, Texas Tech has an ERA of 0.65. The Red Raiders won both Super Regional games by 1-0 scores.

On Aug. 27, the Red Raiders got a text message from Tadlock with two photos. One was a picture of Ameritrade Park, the other was the statue at the park that depicts a celebratory dog pile with the words “The Road To Omaha.”

“Why not?” Tadlock said when asked this week about his motivational methods. “Why not dream big? We try not to make more out of it than it really is, and absolutely, we’ve earned the right to go. We’re looking forward to the opportunity to compete and the challenge of going up there against whoever we play.”

Louisville CardinalsRecord: 50-15.Conference: American Athletic. Coach: Dan McConnell.How they got here: Won Louisville Regional: beat Kent State 5-0, beat Kansas 6-3, beat Kentucky 4-1. Won Louisville Super Regional: beat Kennesaw State 5-3, beat Kennesaw State 7-4.History lesson: 2 appearances (2007, 2013), 1-4.Top players: C Kyle Gibson (.319, 1 HR, 20 RBIs), 1B Grant Kay (.289, 5, 35), 2B Zach Lucas (.268, 5, 44), 3B Alex Chittenden (.291, 1, 30), SS Sutton Whiting (.212, 2, 17), LF Jeff Gardner (.321, 9, 68), CF Cole Sturgeon (.331, 2, 34), RF Colin Lyman (.265, 0, 16), DH Nick Solak (.267, 2, 24), RHP Kyle Funkhouser (13-2, 1.73), RHP Jared Ruxer (7-1, 2.27), RHP Anthony Kidston (9-0, 3.54), LHP Kyle McGrath (2-1, 1.38), RHP Cole Sturgeon (3-0, 1.98), RHP Nick Burdi (3-1, 0.51, 18 saves).You need to know: Louisville enters the CWS ranked second in the nation in stolen bases with 132 and third in stolen bases per game at 2.03. … The Cardinals are 43-0 this season when leading after the eighth inning and has won 98 straight games when entering the ninth with the lead going back to May 2012. … Starter Kyle Funkhouser is tied for the NCAA lead in wins with 13; no pitcher at the CWS has won more. … Coach Dan McConnell is in his eighth season as Louisville’s coach. He has a 359-157 record and is the winningest coach in school history. … Louisville has won 23 of its last 27 games and over that 27-game stretch the pitching staff’s ERA is 2.35 with 235 strikeouts in 241 innings. … Louisville is only team returning from 2013 CWS and is the only one of the eight teams to reach Omaha in 2013 to make it to his season’s Super Regional round.